The Northern Illinois and Utah State football teams who will play in Thursday's Poinsettia Bowl are scheduled to visit SeaWorld San Diego on Tuesday, one day after attending a luncheon aboard the USS Midway.
Northern Illinois will visit SeaWorld in the morning and Utah State in the afternoon. The teams will visit the San Diego Zoo on Christmas Day.
The theme of Monday's luncheon was inspiration. Both teams' honorary captains from the Make-A-Wish foundation were introduced and presented with their personalized jerseys.
Senior linebacker Jake Doughty was given Utah State's Poinsettia Wishes Come True Inspirational Award.
"Any time you can give back to the community it's important for our program," Utah State coach Matt Wells said. "To be able to do that here in San Diego with this community is huge for our team."
Players from both teams toured the USS Midway on their own following the luncheon, taking pictures and listening to lectures.
"Those are attractions that some of these kids will never ever get to go to," Wells said. "To be afforded that opportunity because of their ability to play good football and to be rewarded is a tremendous accomplishment for them."
